Volta a Catalunya 2015 *Spoilers*

adr82

Onto the flat now I think, 4k to go.

Valverde jumps off the front, has a gap.

above_the_cows

The cat and mouse games begin.

above_the_cows

Señor Hairplugs has gone on the charge.

frenchfighter

Opposite of pure racer Porte is sucking wheels as hard as he can.

Contador waves him through. He refuses. Contador sits up. Giving Valverde who was first wheel and leading the charge the perfect gap.

Lets hope he holds on.

adr82

Uran chasing, Valverde has this though

frenchfighter

Brilliant, my man wins again and gets the bonus seconds plus 5/6 secs to those behind.

above_the_cows

Señor Hairplugs takes the stage.

above_the_cows

My man Porte the new race leader.

ddraver

sounds like clever stuff from Ritchie...

emadden

Carlton Kirby, you are a fookin' tool.

above_the_cows

ddraver wrote:

sounds like clever stuff from Ritchie...

He rode smart. Found something of a sprint too.

RichN95.

GC (my calculations, so pinch of salt)

1. Porte
2. Pozzovivo +5
3. Contador +7
4. Valverde +16
5. Uran +18
6. Aru +27

frenchfighter

Above The Cows wrote:

ddraver wrote:

sounds like clever stuff from Ritchie...

He rode smart. Found something of a sprint too.

Would it be smart if Valverde managed to get 30secs?

above_the_cows

frenchfighter wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

ddraver wrote:

sounds like clever stuff from Ritchie...

He rode smart. Found something of a sprint too.

Would it be smart if Valverde managed to get 30secs?

Yeah but he didn't Frenchie so that's an impossible conversation to have about something that didn't happen.

dolan_driver

Missed today's stage but I didn't miss much. Mr. "I swear I didn't dope, Guv" winning the stage and Dan M losing time. A bad day in Catalyuna.

DD.

Paul 8v

If Valverde made moves like that more often I would like him a lot more. Much better than his normal method of winning!

gsk82

Paul 8v wrote:

If Valverde made moves like that more often I would like him a lot more. Much better than his normal method of winning!

To be fair to him he has been doing it a lot the last six month or so. It's as if something clicked last summer. Maybe he read the forum.

frenchfighter

Majka and Bardet DNS yesterday. Talansky finished next to last. Froome better than yesterday. Teuns in 12th.

The_Boy

Echelons...

Paul 8v

gsk82 wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

If Valverde made moves like that more often I would like him a lot more. Much better than his normal method of winning!

To be fair to him he has been doing it a lot the last six month or so. It's as if something clicked last summer. Maybe he read the forum.

I would love to think he did actually do that "Damn, I AM a terrible wheeleucker, time to start winning with some panache"

adr82

The_Boy wrote:

Echelons...

That's not how you do it!

Above The Cows wrote:

ECHELONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

adr82

Going to be another breakaway win then, group of 15 or so with 2:40 at 13k

The_Boy

adr82 wrote:

The_Boy wrote:

Echelons...

That's not how you do it!

Above The Cows wrote:

ECHELONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were only little. Didn't want to get people over excited.

adr82

The_Boy wrote:

adr82 wrote:

The_Boy wrote:

Echelons...

That's not how you do it!

Above The Cows wrote:

ECHELONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were only little. Didn't want to get people over excited.

Oh I see, you don't want to be the boy who cried "Echelons!"

adr82

Plenty of attacking and counter-attacking in the break but nobody has escaped yet. Into the last 4k.

adr82

Alaphilippe goes for it for EQS in the last 600-700m... think he was just caught by Chernetski on the line for Katusha

No_Ta_Doctor

adr82 wrote:

Alaphilippe goes for it for EQS in the last 600-700m... think he was just caught by Chernetski on the line for Katusha

Chernetski just got it.

The_Boy

Reckon looking over his shoulder at the last might have cost him there.

frenchfighter

Shame my man Alaphilippe couldnt just hold on.

--

Valverde comments from yesterday:

“It was a really beautiful day for all of us," Valverde said. "We knew there was going to be some wind in the finale, the whole team was attentive and always riding on the front and we decided to accelerate. We were able to make the gap, left De Clercq and Martin behind, and also cooperated well with the other teams, since we all had an interest to leave the rivals behind - we really pushed at 100%. Once Rubén dropped back, I saw everyone was leaving all responsibility on my shoulders in the break into the last kilometer of the climb, so I jumped away to try and shrink the field. They weren't taking the turns in the downhill, either, so when I saw a gap, I digged, I was able to leave them behind and snatch those five more seconds.

"It's true that now, seeing that we're 16 seconds behind, that time we lost in Girona is awful for us. Moreover, the crash did change things completely: it wasn't a hard blow at all, but every time you suffer a crash, you feel in pain when you wake up the following that, and combined with all the efforts into the mountain stage and me suffering with cold on the Creueta descent... all of that made me reach La Molina not in the best condition I'd have wished. Still, I think I'm doing a pretty good work in this Volta, both myself and the whole team, and we're really happy. Let's see what happens until Sunday in Montjuïc. We already did great and we'll fight for what it's left. The GC is close, we're pretty much equal when it comes to energy and even the bonus seconds might be key.

"Every time we come to the Volta a Catalunya we always remember Xavi a lot; we always do, in every race, and every victory we achieve, though we don't always say it, is for him. We also remember Pablo, after his crash yesterday. Let this victory serve so we can remind him we're by his side, giving every bit of energy on the road to make him happy - this is also for you."

My man would be leading the GC if he hadn't been the victim of a crash.

No_Ta_Doctor

Contador crashed in the final 3km, keeps his podium place. Don't know if it was heavy or not yet.